Alzheimer's disease (AD), is a severe neurodegenerative disease that currently lacks an optimally effective therapeutic agent for its management. Saikosaponin D (SSD) is a component extracted from the herb Bupleurum falcatum that is commonly used in Chinese medicine. Although SSD has been reported to exert neuroprotective effects, its pharmacological role in AD has not been previously elucidated. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether SSD treatment improves the cognitive function and pathological features of 3xTg mice, a triple-transgenic mouse model of AD that displays classical pathological features of AD. The effects of SSD treatment on the behavioral, histological and physiological features of the animal were quantified. Results from the behavioral experiments on the SSD-treated 3xTg mice identified a significant reduction in memory impairment. In addition, histological staining results indicated that SSD application could preserve the morphology of neurons, reduce apoptosis and significantly inhibit amyloid-β deposition in the hippocampus of 3xTg mice. SSD treatment also decelerated the activation of microglia and astrocytes in the hippocampus of 3xTg mice, possibly via the inhibition of the NF-κB signal transduction pathway. Therefore, the present study demonstrated the protective effects of SSD against progressive neurodegeneration and identified the potential underlying pharmacological mechanism. It was speculated that SSD may serve as a possible therapeutic agent in AD treatment in the future.


In this paper we describe content determination issues involved in the Atlas.txt project, which aims to automatically describe geo-referenced information such as census data as text for the visually-impaired (VI). Texts communicating geo-referenced census information contain census data abstractions and their corresponding geographic references. Because visually impaired users find interpreting geographic references hard, we hypothesized that an introduction message about the underlying geography should help the users to interpret the geographic references easily. We performed user studies to design and evaluate the introduction message. An initial evaluation study with several sighted users and one partially sighted user showed that an introduction message is certainly preferred by most participants. Many of them used an introduction message themselves when they described maps textually. But the study also showed that the introduction message made no difference when the participants were asked to draw maps using the information in the textual descriptions.


Sue Townsend, the bestselling author of the Adrian Mole series, returns with The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year, a funny and touching novel about what happens when someone stops being the person everyone wants them to be. "Laugh-out-loud...a teeming world of characters whose foibles and misunderstandings provide glorious amusement. Something deeper and darker than comedy." (Sunday Times). The day her twins leave home, Eva climbs into bed and stays there. For seventeen years she's wanted to yell at the world, 'Stop! I want to get off'. Finally, this is her chance. Her husband Brian, an astronomer having an unsatisfactory affair, is upset. Who will cook his dinner? Eva, he complains, is attention seeking. But word of Eva's defiance spreads. Legions of fans, believing she is protesting, gather in the street. While Alexander the white van man brings tea, toast and sympathy. And from this odd but comforting place Eva begins to see both herself and the world very, very differently...Bestselling author Sue Townsend has been Britain's favourite comic writer for over three decades, The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year is her hilarious new novel. "She fills the pages with turmoil, anger, passion, love and big helpings of wit. It's full of colour and glows with life" (Independent). "Hilarious and totally Townsend. There were parts where I laughed until I cried." (Daily Mail). "Touching and hilarious. Bursting with witty social commentary as well as humour." (Women's Weekly). "A funny, poignant look at modern family life." (Daily Express). Sue Townsend is one of Britain's favourite comic authors. Her hugely successful novels include eight Adrian Mole books, The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (Aged 553/4), Number Ten, Ghost Children, The Queen and I, Queen Camilla and The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year, all of which are highly-acclaimed bestsellers. Sue passed away in 2014 and is survived by her husband, four children, ten grandchildren and millions of avid readers.


Abstract A number of studies of U.S. stock returns document what is referred to as the investment or asset growth effect. Specifically, firms that increase investment or total assets subsequently earn lower risk-adjusted returns. This study finds substantial cross-country differences in the asset growth effect. In particular, the asset growth effect is stronger in countries with more developed financial markets, but it does not seem to be associated with corporate governance or the costs of trading. Overall, the evidence is consistent with a q-theory where financial market development captures either managers' willingness or ability to align investment expenditures to the cost of capital, but it is inconsistent with the hypothesis that the asset growth effect is due to bad governance and overinvestment.


"Women in Movement" is an historical introduction to a wide range of women's movements from the late-18th century to the present. It describes economic, social and political ideas that have inspired women to organize, not only in Europe and North America, but also in the Third World. Historical accounts of the origins of feminism cover the lives and theories of individuals, as well as campaigns and organizations. Sheila Rowbotham outlines a long history of women's challenges to the gender bias in political and economic concepts. She shows women laying claim to rights and citizenship, while contesting male definitions of their scope and seeking to enlarge the meaning of economy through action around production and consumption, environmental protests and welfare projects. "Women in Movement" aims to provide readers with thought-provoking information and to introduce them to ideas about women's position in society. It also gives a basis for thinking through wider issues about progress, development, individualism, collectivity, welfare, needs, rights and entitlements. Themes for discussion lead each section, and general bibliographies follow each chapter.


We describe a new implementation of a single scatter simulation (SSS) algorithm for the prediction and correction of scatter in 3D PET. In this implementation, out of field of view (FoV) scatter and activity, side shields and oblique tilts are explicitly modelled. Comparison of SSS predictions with Monte Carlo simulations and experimental data from uniform, line and cold-bar phantoms showed that the code is accurate for uniform as well as asymmetric objects and can model different energy resolution crystals and low level discriminator (LLD) settings. Absolute quantitation studies show that for most applications, the code provides a better scatter estimate than the tail-fitting scatter correction method currently in use at our institution. Several parameters such as the density of scatter points, the number of scatter distribution sampling points and the axial extent of the FoV were optimized to minimize execution time, with particular emphasis on patient studies. Development and optimization were carried out in the case of GSO-based scanners, which enjoy relatively good energy resolution. SSS estimates for scanners with lower energy resolution may result in different agreement, especially because of a higher fraction of multiple scatter events. The algorithm was applied to a brain phantom as well as to clinical whole-body studies. It proved robust in the case of large patients, where the scatter fraction increases. The execution time, inclusive of interpolation, is typically under 5 min for a whole-body study (axial FoV: 81 cm) of a 100 kg patient.


OBJECTIVE
To measure 11-dehydro-thromboxane B2 (11-dTXB2) in urine of healthy control dogs, dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy, and dogs with gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV) and assess the relationship between urinary 11-dTXB2 concentrations in dogs with GDV and postoperative outcomes.

SAMPLE POPULATION
Urine samples from 15 nonsurgical control dogs, 12 surgical control dogs, and 32 dogs with GVD.

PROCEDURE
Urine samples were obtained from healthy pet dogs (ie, nonsurgical control dogs), dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy at anesthetic induction and 1 hour following surgery (ie, surgical control dogs), and dogs with GDV at hospital admission and 1 hour following surgical derotation of the stomach (ie, GDV dogs). Urinary 11-dTXB2 concentrations were determined with an ELISA and normalized to urinary creatinine (Cr) concentrations by calculation of the 11-dTXB2 -to-Cr ratio. Differences in median 11-dTXB2 -to-Cr ratios among dogs and before and after surgery were analyzed.

RESULTS
Urinary 11-dTXB2-to-Cr ratios did not differ between nonsurgical control dogs and surgical control dogs before or after surgery. Urinary 11-dTXB2-to-Cr ratios were significantly higher in GDV dogs at the time of hospital admission and 1 hour after surgery, compared with those of nonsurgical control dogs. Postoperative urine samples from GDV dogs had significantly higher 11-dTXB2-to-Cr ratios than postoperative urine samples from surgical control dogs. Median urinary 11-dTXB2-to-Cr ratios increased significantly in GDV dogs that developed postoperative complications.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Urinary 11-dTXB2 concentration is increased in GDV dogs at the time of hospital admission and after surgical derotation of the stomach, compared with that of healthy dogs. An increased urinary 11-dTXB2-to-Cr ratio following surgery is associated with an increased incidence of postoperative complications in dogs with GDV.


This chapter provides a broad overview of the upward trends in financial globalization and foreign direct investment and asks whether and how financial globalization is linked with the foreign direct investment decisions of non-financial multinational enterprises. Several potential links and their empirical support in the recent literature are discussed: the elements of foreign direct investment that require (global) financial services; the role of trade credit; and the question whether banks follow their customers abroad. Finally, the effect of the recent financial crisis is discussed. It finds that financial globalization provides a reduction in broadly defined transaction costs which can boost both trade and foreign direct investment, at the costs of more exposure of the real economy to financial shocks.


This study explores the influence of Urbanization, Trade, Human Capital, FDI, Money on Poverty of developing countries. To capture this effect, panel data of 20 developing countries has been collected through World Development Indicators (WDI) from 2006 to 2022. For the purpose of analysis, Im, Pesaran and Shin W test – unit root test has been applied to check the stationary and to choose the appropriate technique i.e. Panel ARDL technique. The unit root test observes the mixed order of integration about the selected variables. Moreover, the results of ARDL conclude that poverty in selected developing countries is reduced by Trade openness, Foreign Direct Investment, Households Consumption Expenditure, Domestic Investment and Human Capital Index. On the other side, poverty is increased by Urbanization and Money supply in the longrun. Convergence from shortrun to longrun has also been found which is evident from cointegrating term.


We describe a new fossil crustacean from the famous Early Devonian Hunsrück Slate, Germany. Other crustacean fossils from this Lagerstätte are of the typical phyllocarid type. The new fossil genus and species Hohensteiniella engeli, represented by a single specimen, exhibits a typical shrimp‐like habitus. H. engeli therefore represents the first crustacean with eumalacostracan affinities from the Hunsrück Slate. Most prominently preserved is the biflagellate antennula, which measures about two‐thirds of the length of the main body. A series of stenopod‐like thoracopods enforce its shrimp‐like appearance. The head shield bears a short rostrum, but appears to have been rather short posteriorly. It remains unclear whether the new species forms an ingroup to Eumalacostraca or is its sister group, as certain key features are not preserved. Possible ingroup affinities may lie with the syncarid lineage (due to the short head shield) or decapod lineage (due to anterior thoracopods being shorter than posterior ones). Representatives of the eumalacostracan lineage are rare in the Devonian and are in most cases younger than H. engeli. Only Archangeliphausia spinosa is slightly older. The specimen of H. engeli is preserved associated with small spherical structures that could represent eggs. We discuss the possibility that H. engeli might have performed a type of parental care.


This paper explores a plethora of issues in education by linking systemic issues of oppression and domination to historical and contemporary contexts. The main argument is an identification and articulation of the importance of historical localities in the perpetuation of people's oppression and marginalization. Importantly, I use  an exploratory investigative approach to articulate the pedagogical implications of systems of oppression and domination within and beyond Canadian contexts. Going beyond identifying deep-rooted systemic injustices, I outline the significance of moving beyond difference as a deficit by presenting many decolonial actions that are currently taking place in the Canadian K-12 educational context. Finally, I re/introduce an opportunity for further action and an articulation for new imaginaries and futurities.


The phrase "cutting off one's nose to spite the face" has many meanings, most of them violent and, historically, sometimes literal. In our times, its meaning is colloquial and suggests a needless, disproportionate, and self-destructive response to a perceived threat. This strangely violent phrase aptly describes what is happening in small agricultural communities across the country. One such community is Brewster, Washington, where Immi- gration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out I-9 audit of Gebbers Farms, Brewster's major employer, in December of 2009. After presenting the Gebbers Farms case, I discuss what this example from one small town in North Central Washington reveals about the workings of immigration law and law enforcement in, and upon, small agricultural communities today.


This letter addresses a reconstruction algorithm of locally rough inaccessible surface profiles via the knowledge of the scattered field data under the consideration of the impedance boundary condition (IBC). To this aim, first, the synthetic scattered field data are obtained through the solution of the conventional surface integral equation (SIE) written on the rough surface. Then, the same SIE together with the data equation is solved iteratively via Newton's method to obtain the image of the rough surface profile. In the numerical implementation, the nonlinear ill-posed inverse problem is linearized in an iterative fashion via the Newton method and regularized by Tikhonov in the least-squares sense. The feasibility of the algorithm is provided via numerical examples, which shows that the method is effective and promising.


The evolution of Fe-related defects is simulated for di erent P di usion gettering (PDG) processes which are applied during silicon solar cell processing. It is shown that the introduction of an extended PDG is bene cial for some as-grown Si materials but not essential for all of them. For mc-Si wafers with an as-grown Fe concentration 14 cm3, a good reduction of the Fei concentration and increase of the electron lifetime is achieved during standard PDG. For mc-Si wafers with a higher as-grown Fe concentration the introduction of defect engineering tools into the solar cell process seems to be advantageous. From comparison of standard PDG with extended PDG it is concluded that the latter leads to a stronger reduction of highly recombination active Fei atoms due to an enhanced segregation gettering e ect. For an as-grown Fe concentration between 1014 cm3 and 1015 cm3, this enhanced Fei reduction results in an appreciable increase in the electron lifetime. However, for an as-grown Fe concentration >1015 cm3, the PDG process needs to be optimized in order to reduce the total Fe concentration within the wafer as the electron lifetime after extended PDG keeps being limited by recombination at precipitated Fe.


A new species of Spatuloricaria is described from the Orinoco River basin, Colombia. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by the following characters: a broad, dark brown stripe on the first pre-dorsal plate, which occupies the entire plate, reaching the preopercle, and sometimes reaching the second pre-dorsal plate; the possession of a small group of plates posterior to the urogenital pore; the abdominal surface with scattered, very small plates leaving naked areas; the possession of five transverse dark brown bands on the dorsal region; and four to five premaxillary teeth. The new species is the first valid species of Spatuloricaria distributed in the Orinoco River basin. Ecological notes of the species and comments regarding the taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships of the genus are offered.


This paper presents a theoretical study of failure modes in sand-like granular materials under general triaxial stress conditions based on a hypoplastic model and a bifurcation analysis. The well developed constitutive model contains the void ratio as a state variable which allows the pressure and density dependent behaviour of the granular materials to be described with a single set of state-independent constitutive parameters. Based on this model a shear bifurcation condition is derived. Loading along various stress paths that can be achieved with a true triaxial test apparatus are simulated numerically. Either localized failure or uniform diffuse failure in granular samples may occur, which is determined based on whether the shear bifurcation condition is met. Effects of confining pressure and initial density are discussed.


This study presents the first attempt to link the multi-algorithm genetically adaptive search method (AMALGAM) proposed by Vrugt and Robinson (2007) with a groundwater model to define pumping rates within a well distributed set of Pareto solutions. The pumping rates along with three minimization objectives, i.e. minimizing shortage affected by the failure to supply, modified shortage index and minimization of extent of drawdown within prespecified regions, were chosen to define an optimal solution for groundwater drawdown and subsidence. Hydraulic conductivity, specific yield parameters of a modular three-dimensional finite-difference (MODFLOW) groundwater model were first optimized using cuckoo optimization algorithm by minimizing the sum of absolute deviation between the observed and simulated water table depths. These parameters were then applied in AMALGAM to optimize the pumping rate variables for an arid groundwater system in Iran. The Pareto parameter sets yielded satisfactory results when maximum and minimum drawdowns of the aquifer were defined in a range of −40 to +40 cm/year. Overall, 'Modelling – Optimization – Simulation' procedure was capable to compute a set of optimal solutions displayed on a Pareto front. The proposed optimal solution provides sustainable groundwater management alternatives to decision makers in arid region.


Reversing actions is the following problem: After executing a sequence of actions, which sequence of actions brings the agent back to the state just before this execution (an action reversal). Notably, this problem is different from a vanilla planning problem since the state we have to get back to is in general unknown. It emerges, for example, if an agent needs to find out which action sequences are undoable, and which ones are committed choices. It has applications related to plan execution and monitoring in nondeterministic domains, such as recovering from a failed execution by partially undoing the plan, dynamically switching from one executed plan to another, or restarting plans. We formalize action reversal in a logic-based action framework and characterize its computational complexity. Since unsurprisingly, the problem is intractable in general, we present a knowledge compilation approach that constructs offline a reverse plan library for efficient (in some cases, linear time) on-line computation of action reversals. Our results for the generic framework can be easily applied for expressive action languages such as C+ or κ.


The study was the effectiveness of the microbial activity by using titanium dioxide nanoparticles which are prepared by using laser ablation of titanium pellet immersed in de-ionzed water. Palsed Nd: YAG laser with 1064nm wavelength and laser energy 250 mJ was used to irradiate the target for ablation time 15 min, 200 pulses. Where studied synthetic characteristics of the sample prepared using the X-ray diffraction pattern of nanoparticles proved the presence Alatanas planes. A scanning electron microscope measurement appearance Tio2 nanoparticle of structures with cube shapes , while the results of Zeta potential was the values being equal to (34) are located within the range of suspension potential Stability. The results of antimicrobial activity of Tio2 nanoparticle against bacterial stratin S.aureus, C .albicans , and E.coli with antibiotic at concentration .1000 mg/ml (AMC, DO 10 and CN 10) using well diffusion assay showed. The best concentration of 1000 mg /ml of antibiotics give us with dioxide nanoparticles to inhibition bacterial growth .The results showed that the nanoparticles with antibiotics inhibition the growth of S.aureus then C.albicans which is more sensitive than E.coli .Our results showed that dioxide nanoparticles have synergistic effect with (CN 10 & DO 10) .And there is no any synergistic effect with (AMC).


Standards and standardization have played an important role in the evolution of information and communication technology. In parts of the literature on standardization and especially among practitioners we see a new theme emerge: business process standards. While there seems to be a consensus on the desirability of process standards, the concept has not yet been fully developed, and there is even less of a clear definition let alone a systematic understanding of the how and why of its value impact than with data and communication standards. In this paper, we suggest a process standardization construct and the associated value dimensions and report on a process standardization effort in a large multinational services firm that reveals how the theoretical considerations translate into concrete business value.


Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of an extra partial or whole copy of chromosome 21. In addition to musculoskeletal and neurodevelopmental abnormalities, children with DS exhibit various hematologic disorders and have an increased risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute megakaryocytic leukemia. Using the Ts65Dn mouse model, we investigated bone marrow defects caused by trisomy for 132 orthologs of the genes on human chromosome 21. The results showed that, although the total bone marrow cellularity as well as the frequency of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) was comparable between Ts65Dn mice and their age-matched euploid wild-type (WT) control littermates, human chromosome 21 trisomy led to a significant reduction in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) numbers and clonogenic function in Ts65Dn mice. We also found that spontaneous DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) were significantly increased in HSCs from the Ts65Dn mice, which was correlated with the significant reduction in HSC clonogenic activity compared to those from WT controls. Moreover, analysis of the repair kinetics of radiation-induced DSBs revealed that HSCs from Ts65Dn mice were less proficient in DSB repair than the cells from WT controls. This deficiency was associated with a higher sensitivity of Ts65Dn HSCs to radiation-induced suppression of HSC clonogenic activity than that of euploid HSCs. These findings suggest that an additional copy of genes on human chromosome 21 may selectively impair the ability of HSCs to repair DSBs, which may contribute to DS-associated hematological abnormalities and malignancies.


Background— Treatment for venous thromboembolism (VTE) is highly effective in preventing morbidity and mortality, yet pulmonary embolism (PE) accounts for up to 25% of early deaths after stroke. This is because the current diagnostic paradigm is reactive rather than proactive: the clinician responds to VTE when it becomes symptomatic, in the expectation that initiation of treatment will prevent progression to more serious manifestations. This approach is flawed, because sudden death from PE is frequently unheralded and nonfatal symptomatic pulmonary emboli are often unrecognized or misdiagnosed. Summary of Comment— Morbidity and mortality from PE could be reduced either by more effective thromboprophylaxis or earlier diagnosis and treatment of established VTE. The fact that early use of short-term, low-dose, unfractionated heparin (UFH) is not associated with sustained, clinically meaningful benefit suggests that a fundamental change in the diagnostic approach to VTE is needed, one which requires a greater appreciation that clinically apparent events are merely the tip of the thromboembolism iceberg. Conclusions— Research into a strategy of screening for subclinical VTE in these patients is needed, with a view to identifying a subgroup at risk of progression to symptomatic and life-threatening events, in whom outcome might be improved by anticoagulation.


Hepatic encephalopathy can arise from portal‐systemic shunting in the absence of intrinsic liver disease. However, there are few descriptions of this form of encephalopathy. Portal vein thrombosis is an infrequent disease that causes portal‐systemic shunting. Episodic hepatic encephalopathy has been described in patients with portal vein thrombosis, but it is not known if these patients develop minimal hepatic encephalopathy. We designed a study to investigate the neurological consequences of portal vein thrombosis in patients without cirrhosis and no clinical signs of encephalopathy. For this purpose, 10 patients underwent neuropsychological tests, an oral glutamine challenge test, and brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The results were compared with those obtained in 10 healthy controls. Patients with portal vein thrombosis exhibited abnormalities in the results of neuropsychological tests, oral glutamine challenge test, and MR similar to those described in hepatic encephalopathy associated with cirrhosis. MR spectroscopy revealed a decrease in myo‐inositol and an increase in glutamine. The increase in glutamine correlated with an increase in ammonia following the oral glutamine challenge test, signs of increased brain water (decrease in magnetization transfer ratio), and impairment of attention tests. In conclusion, patients with noncirrhotic portal vein thrombosis develop subclinical neurological abnormalities compatible with minimal hepatic encephalopathy. These disturbances, which include signs of increase in brain water and a compensatory osmotic response (decrease in brain myo‐inositol), appear to be secondary to brain exposure to ammonia induced by portal‐systemic shunting. (HEPATOLOGY 2006;43:707–714.)


Murine embryonic stem cells were induced to differentiate into neural lineage cells by exposure to retinoic acid. Approximately one million cells were transplanted into the lesion site in the spinal cords of adult rats which had received moderate contusion injuries 9 days previously. One group received transplants of cells genetically modified to over-express bcl-2, which codes for an anti-apoptotic protein. A second group received transplants of the wild-type ES cells from which the bcl-2 line was developed. In the untransplanted control group, only medium was injected. Locomotor abilities were assessed using the Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) rating scale for 6 weeks. There was no incremental locomotor improvement in either transplant group when compared to control over the survival period. Morbidity and mortality were significantly more prevalent in the transplant groups than in controls. At the conclusion of the 6-week survival period, the spinal cords were examined. Two of six cords from the bcl-2 group and one of 12 cords from the wild-type group showed gross evidence of abnormal growths at the site of transplantation. No similar growth was seen in the control. Pathological examination of the abnormal cords showed very large numbers of undifferentiated cells proliferating at the injection site and extending up to 1.5 cm rostrally and caudally. These results suggest that transplanting KD3 ES cells, or apoptosis-resistant cells derived from the KD3 line, into the injured spinal cord does not improve locomotor recovery and can lead to tumor-like growth of cells, accompanied by increased debilitation, morbidity and mortality.


The authors propose to consider infectious diseases as mass clinical conditions in both normative-legal and medical contexts. Peculiarities of commission and comprehensive inspections carried out in situations of massive infectious morbidity among servicemen are illustrated by examples of the work of state forensic medical organizations and investigative authorities of the Russian Defense Ministry.


On Thursday, December 13, 2012, The Guardian announced Queen Elizabeth finally received an answer to her question—"Did nobody see this coming?"—about the 2008 financial crisis.… Perhaps she could have also asked three more questions: Does nobody see the suffering and socioeconomic injustices of oligopolistic-finance capitalism? Does no one see that the problems are structural and systemic? And is there no alternative to a system that generates continuous "quadruple crises"—the socioeconomic, political, environmental, and personal/psychological?… The conventional wisdom is "There Is No Alternative," or TINA. For this reason most Americans simply acquiesce to capitalistic social relations and, like Sisyphus, are resigned to performing eternal tasks while enduring the "endless" quadruple crises generated by a pathological system.… The most extraordinary aspect concerning the absence of an alternative is that it is fallacious. The capitalistic system itself must be transformed. To put it into a slogan: Capitalism Is No Alternative, or CINA. This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website , where most recent articles are published in full. Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


Abstract. A new procedure is proposed for estimating river discharge hydrographs during flood events, using only water level data at a single gauged site, as well as 1-D shallow water modelling and occasional maximum surface flow velocity measurements. One-dimensional diffusive hydraulic model is used for routing the recorded stage hydrograph in the channel reach considering zero-diffusion downstream boundary condition. Based on synthetic tests concerning a broad prismatic channel, the "suitable" reach length is chosen in order to minimize the effect of the approximated downstream boundary condition on the estimation of the upstream discharge hydrograph. The Manning's roughness coefficient is calibrated by using occasional instantaneous surface velocity measurements during the rising limb of flood that are used to estimate instantaneous discharges by adopting, in the flow area, a two-dimensional velocity distribution model. Several historical events recorded in three gauged sites along the upper Tiber River, wherein reliable rating curves are available, have been used for the validation. The outcomes of the analysis can be summarized as follows: (1) the criterion adopted for selecting the "suitable" channel length based on synthetic test studies has proved to be reliable for field applications to three gauged sites. Indeed, for each event a downstream reach length not more than 500 m is found to be sufficient, for a good performances of the hydraulic model, thereby enabling the drastic reduction of river cross-sections data; (2) the procedure for Manning's roughness coefficient calibration allowed for high performance in discharge estimation just considering the observed water levels and occasional measurements of maximum surface flow velocity during the rising limb of flood. Indeed, errors in the peak discharge magnitude, for the optimal calibration, were found not exceeding 5% for all events observed in the three investigated gauged sections, while the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency was, on average, greater than 0.95. Therefore, the proposed procedure well lend itself to be applied for: (1) the extrapolation of rating curve over the field of velocity measurements (2) discharge estimations in different cross sections during the same flood event using occasional surface flow velocity measures carried out, for instance, by hand-held radar sensors.


Background: The association between bacterial infections and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) has recently been studied with debatable results. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between PPIs and the development of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) or other bacterial infections in cirrhotic patients. Materials and Methods: Consecutive cirrhotic patients hospitalized from 2007 through 2012 to Hamad General Hospital–, Doha, Qatar, were enrolled and classified as PPI users or non-users according to PPI consumption in the 90 days prior to hospitalization. Cirrhosis was clinically diagnosed by a combination of physical, biochemical, radiological, and endoscopic findings, or by liver biopsy. Results: A total of 333 patients were included in this study, of whom 171 (51.4%) used PPIs and 162 (48.6%) did not use PPIs. PPI users were significantly older in age (p = 0.001). There was no statistical difference between the 2 groups in sex distribution and etiology of cirrhosis (p > 0.05 for both parameters). PPI users had a significantly higher incidence of overall bacterial infection (38%) than non-PPI users (13.6%), p = 0.0001. Statistical significance is observed specifically for SBP and chest infection (p = 0.0006 and p = 0.01, respectively). In multivariate analysis, older age (> 60 years; OR = 1.246, 95% CI 1.021–08.486; p = 0.02), and PPI use (OR = 2.149, 95% CI 1.124–06.188; p = 0.01) were independent predicting factors for SBP and overall bacterial infection. Conclusion: The present study shows that PPI use, as well as older age (> 60 years), was an independent predicting factor for the development of overall infection and SBP in hospitalized cirrhotic patients. Unless it is indicated, PPI therapy should be avoided in this group of patients, particularly in those older than 60 years of age.


ABSTRACT Klemas, V., 2013. Using remote sensing to select and monitor wetland restoration sites: an overview. Coastal and estuarine wetlands represent highly productive and critical habitats for a wide variety of plants and animals and provide protection from storms and wave damage. However, wetland acreage in the continental United States has been steadily decreasing mainly as a result of human activities and sea level rise. Major efforts are being made by federal, state, and local agencies to protect existing wetlands, restore lost wetlands, and improve those stressed by human activities. The restoration process can involve removing exotic plants, removing bulkheads and fill, elevation grading, creating flushing channels, and planting native vegetation. Having developed criteria for selecting wetland sites to be restored or enhanced, wetland managers must prioritize the sites based on ecological and economic considerations. Remote sensing techniques can provide a cost-effective means for selecting restoration sites and observing their progress over time. The objective of this paper is to review airborne and satellite remote sensing techniques for identifying suitable wetland restoration sites and monitoring their progress.


Each paper needs an abstract in English of not more than 200 words. The abstract is of utmost importance. It should contain the following information: purpose of the study, procedures, results, conclusions and message of the paper. Footnotes: Avoid footnotes. Tables and illustrations: Tables and illustrations (both numbered in Arabic numerals) should be stored in separate files. Tables require a heading and figures a legend, also in a separate file. When possible, group several illustrations in one block for reproduction (max. size 180  223 mm) or provide crop marks. B/w half-tone and color illustrations must have a final resolution of 300 dpi after scaling, line drawings one of 800–1,200 dpi. Color illustrations Online edition: Color illustrations are reproduced free of charge. In the print version, the illustrations are reproduced in black and white. Please avoid referring to the colors in the text and figure legends. Print edition: Up to 6 color illustrations per page can be integrated within the text at CHF 960.00 per page. References: In the text identify references by Arabic numerals [in square brackets]. Material submitted for publication but not yet accepted should be noted as [unpublished data] and not be included in the reference list. The list of references should include only those publications which are cited in the text. Do not alphabetize; number references in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. The surnames of the authors followed by initials should be given. There should be no punctuation other than a comma to separate the authors. Preferably, please cite all authors. Abbreviate journal names according to the Index Medicus system. Also see International Committee of Medical Journal Editors: Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals (www.icmje.org). Examples (a) Papers published in periodicals: Chatel J-M, Bernard H, Orson FM: Isolation and characterization of two complete Ara h 2 isoforms cDNA. Int Arch Allergy Immunol 2003;131:14–18. (b) Papers published only with DOI numbers: Theoharides TC, Boucher W, Spear K: Serum interleukin-6 reflects disease severity and osteoporosis in mastocytosis patients. Int Arch Allergy Immunol DOI: 10.1159/000063858. (c) Monographs: Matthews DE, Farewell VT: Using and Understanding Medical Statistics, ed 3, revised. Basel, Karger, 1996. (d) Edited books: DuBois RN: Cyclooxygenase-2 and colorectal cancer; in Dannenberg AJ, Dubois RN (eds): COX-2. Prog Exp Tum Res. Basel, Karger, 2003, vol 37, pp 124–137. Reference Management Software: Use of EndNote is recommended for easy management and formatting of citations and reference lists. Digital Object Identifier (DOI) S. Karger Publishers supports DOIs as unique identifiers for articles. A DOI number will be printed on the title page of each article. DOIs can be useful in the future for identifying and citing articles published online without volume or issue information. More information can be found at www.doi.org. Self-Archiving/Green Open Access Karger permits authors to archive their pre-prints (i.e. prepeer review) or post-prints (i.e. accepted manuscript after peer review but before production) on their personal or their institution's internal website. In addition, authors may post their accepted manuscripts in public Open Access repositories and scientific networks (e.g. ResearchGate or Mendeley) no earlier than 12 months following publication of the final version of their article. For all self-archiving, the posted manuscripts must: • Be used for noncommercial purposes only • Be linked to the final version on www.karger.com • Include the following statement: 'This is the peer-reviewed but unedited manuscript version of the following article: [insert full citation, e.g. Cytogenet Genome Res 2014;142:227–238 (DOI: 10.1159/000361001)]. The final, published version is available at http://www.karger.com/?doi=[insert DOI number].' It is the author's responsibility to fulfill these requirements. For papers published online first with a DOI number only, full citation details must be added as soon as the paper is published in its final version. This is important to ensure that citations can be credited to the article. Manuscripts to be archived in PubMed Central due to funding requirements will be submitted by Karger on the author's behalf [see Funding Organizations (NIH etc.)]. For self-archiving Author's ChoiceTM (Gold Open Access) articles, see Author's Choice. Author's ChoiceTM Karger's Author's Choice service broadens the reach of your article and gives all users worldwide free and full access for reading, downloading and printing at www. karger.com. The option is available for a one-time fee of CHF 3,000.00, which is a permissible cost in grant allocation. More information can be found at www.karger.com/ authors_choice. The final, published version of the article may be posted at any time and in any repository or on other websites, in accordance with the relevant Creative Commons license. Reposted Open Access articles must: • Follow the terms of the relevant Creative Commons license • Be linked to the final version on www.karger.com • Include the following statement: 'The final, published version of this article is available at http://www.karger.com/?doi=[insert DOI number].' It is the author's responsibility to fulfill these requirements. For papers published online first with a DOI number only, full citation details must be added as soon as the paper is published in its final version. This is important to ensure that citations can be credited to the article. Funding Organizations (NIH etc.) The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy mandates that accepted, peer-reviewed manuscripts are archived in its digital database, PubMed Central (PMC), within 12 months of the official publication date. As a service to authors, Karger submits NIH-funded articles to PMC on behalf of the authors immediately upon publication. The NIH assigns a PMCID within approximately KI11274 G. Schatz (Basel) A Matter of Wonder What Biology Reveals about Us, Our World, and Our Dreams Translated by A. Shields XII + 190 p., 2 color fig., hard cover, 2011 CHF 29.00 / EUR 27.00 / USD 29.00 ISBN 978–3–8055–9744–9 More information and sample essays at www.karger.com/schatz S. Karger AG, P.O. Box CH–4009 Basel (Switzerland) Fax +41 61 306 12 34 E-Mail firstname.lastname@example.com www.karger.com A M AT T E R O F W O N D E R WHAT BIOLOGY REVEALS ABOUT US, OUR WORLD, AND OUR DREAMS G O T T F R I E D S C H AT Z 'A col lec t ion of extraordinary essays' G O T T F R I E D S C H AT Z


Effective health interventions are a priority for future infertility research, and effective interventions in patient-centered care are still needed. A multi-center prospective study was conducted in order to investigate the effects of a physician-nurse partnership (patients receive guidance and health education via online healthcare platforms) on depression and anxiety disorders in infertile women. The women were randomly assigned to a physician-nurse partnership group (n = 90) or a routine treatment group (n = 90). The primary endpoints were self-rating anxiety scale and self-rating depression scale scores. This study also examined the waiting time as an outpatient and the frequency of using online medical platforms. Compared to the routine treatment group, scores on the self-rating anxiety scale (48.4) and the self-rating depression scale (48.0) were significantly lower in the physician-nurse partnership group (p = 0.004, p = 0.001). Moreover, the mean waiting time (3.4) was shorter and online platforms (6.1) were used more frequently in the physician-nurse partnership group than in the routine treatment group (p < 0.001, p < 0.001). These data suggest that a physician-nurse partnership could reduce patients' anxiety, depression, and their waiting time as an outpatient.


We study different languages for representing nondeterministic actions in planning from the point of view of knowledge compilation. Precisely, we consider succintness issues (how succinct is the description of an action in each language?) and complexity issues (tractability or hardness of several queries which arise naturally in planning and belief tracking). We study an abstract, nondeterministic version of PDDL, nondeterministic conditional STRIPS, the language NNFAT of NNF action theories, and the language NPDDLseq obtained by adding a sequence operator to nondeterministic PDDL. We show that these languages have different succinctness and different complexity even for the most natural queries.


The Middle East is often considered to demonstrate a case of weak regionalism. This article suggests that the continued prevalence of Arab identity as the hegemonic component of regional consciousness contributes to this. The dominance of a discourse of 'Arabness' reduces the region's flexibility to adapt and develop regional institutions in several ways and particularly vis-a-vis the non-Arab communities and states that are found within the spatial boundaries of the Middle East. To explore the role played by Arab identity politics in regionalism with regard to the status of non-Arab states, this article presents a study of the competing hegemonic regional discourses employed by Turkey, Iran and Egypt during a two-year period following the 2011 uprising in Egypt. This analysis suggests that even during a time of crisis, non-Arab states face obstacles to their assertion of regional projects and that Arabness is a central factor in the narratives resisting alternative interpretations of the interests and definition of the Middle East as a region. The article concludes that Arabness forms the hegemonic discourse that shapes the international relations of the Middle East.


The well-known text-critical problem in Ezek 2:6 with regard to the phrase יכִּ םיבִרָסָ ךְתָוֹא םינִוֹלּסַוְ has given rise to various interpretations. The one currently most widely accepted was made by Zimmerli in his commentary on Ezekiel, but this does not solve all the problems related to this phrase. Some scholars accept the reading of the Masoretic Text, albeit with a different interpretation of the words in the phrase. Others propose emendations, but the proposals do not solve all the problems. The versions demonstrate that they had a problem with the reading as well. In the proposed solution to the problem, it is accepted that the Septuagint and the Masoretic text contain two different editions of the book of Ezekiel, and that different proposals are needed for the two editions. Proposals are made for solving this problem in each of the two editions. The problems with the reading of the Masoretic text are discussed first, followed by a discussion of the renderings of this phrase in the versions. It is proposed that the text underlying the Masoretic text should have been םינִוֹלּסַ יכִּ ךָיתֶוֹביבִסְ םיבִרָסָוְ, while the Septuagint is based on the following reading: םינִוֹלּסַ יכִּ םיבִבְסֹ םיבִרָסָוְ ךְתָוֹא .


Background: The main surgeries that can be performed in upper and mid rectal cancer are low anterior rectal resection (LAR), lateral colostomy (LC), and extended Hartmann operation with mesorectal excision (EHO). Compared to lateral colostomy, EHO is a curative surgery; it also takes a shorter time to perform and has a lower mortality compared with LAR. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the postoperative surgical complications in patients who underwent LAR, LC, or EHO. Methods: The study is a prospective analysis based on a Surveillance protocol for patients with liver metastases of colorectal origin used in First Surgical Oncology Unit, Regional Institute of Oncology IaAŸi, Romania. The postoperative complications occurring within 60 days postoperatively were analyzed. Results: In the interval June 2012 – May 2014, 87 patients were diagnosed with upper and mid-rectal cancer and liver metastases; LAR was performed in 18 patients, LC in 19 patients and in 50 patients EHO with pelvic drainage abdominally exteriorized or perineally (37 and 13 patients, respectively). The postoperative complications related to surgical wound, stoma, pelvic abscess, postoperative bleeding, prolonged postoperative ileus, anastomotic leakage, reinterventions, readmissions, and mortality were analyzed. A higher rate of pelvic abscesses was found in EHO patients (24%, n=12), of which 9 patients (18%) required reinterventions for drainnage of pelvic fluid collection; all these patients had pelvic drainage exteriorized abdominally. No presacral abscesses were recorded in patients with pelvic drainage exteriorized perineally. Conclusions: Extended Hartmann Operation (EHO) remains a safe technique, that shares some indications with LAR and LC; however, it is associated with a higher percentage of pelvic abscesses and reinterventions that can be avoided by postoperative perineal drainage of the presacral space


Background: Enteritis caused by Campylobacter is considered as the most common acute bacterial diarrhea around the world. In most cases, infection occurs as a result of consuming contaminated water or food, especially raw meat of fowls. Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to determine the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of campylobacter species among pediatrics of Hamadan city, Iran. Patients and Methods: A total of 120 stool samples from children less than 10 years old were examined from January 2013 to December 2014 in Hamadan, Iran. The samples were incubated in Campy-Thio enrichment medium for 1 - 2 hours and then cultured on a specific medium; after that, the suspected colonies were analyzed for Campylobacter spp. identification by conventional tests. The identified species by biochemical methods were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by disk agar diffusion (DAD) method. Results: Twelve (10%) Campylobacter spp. from 120 stool samples were isolated including C. coli and C. jejuni. In the antibiotic susceptibility test, the most frequent resistance was observed to ciprofloxacin 8 (88.8%), followed by 7 (77.7%) resistant strains to tetracycline, 7 (77.7%) to erythromycin, 6 (66.6%) to clindamycin, 5 (55.5%) to meropenem, 4 (44.4%) to gentamicin, 3 (33.3%) to nalidixicacid and only 1 (11.1%) to chloramphenicol. Conclusions: Campylobacter is responsible for some important clinical problems such as enteritis and is also associated with meningitis and hemolytic-uremic syndrome. It is imperative to monitor the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Campylobacter spp. as well as other the zoonotic bacteria.


This paper identifies shocks to the Federal Reserve's inflation target as VAR innovations that make the largest contribution to future movements in long-horizon inflation expectations. The effectiveness of this scheme is documented via Monte-Carlo experiments. The estimated impulse responses indicate that a positive shock to the target is associated with a large increase in inflation, GDP growth and long-term interest rates. Target shocks are estimated to be a vital factor behind the increase in inflation during the pre-1980 period and are an important driver of the decline in long-term interest rates over the last two decades.


The Receptor for Activated C Kinase 1 (RACK1) protein is one of the ribosomal proteins that is located in the small subunit which is maintained across most of the eukaryotes and functions as a flexible scaffold protein involved in multiple signaling pathways. It is considered as a highly conserved protein that found in a wide range of tryptophan-aspartate (WD40) repeat proteins of eukaryotic organisms, from Chlamydomonas to plants and mammals. RACK1 adopts a propeller structure with seven blades structures, enabling the binding capability of the protein. RACK1 participates in shuttling and anchoring of proteins around the cells at certain positions and it stabilizes protein production during translation. RACK1 is a member of the protein family WD repeat that consists of seven-bladed βpropeller structure which shares important homology to the G-proteins (Gb) β-subunit. It interacts with the ribosomal machinery, multiple receptors of the cell surface and the nuclear proteins. RACK1 is a key mediator of different pathways and contributes to a variety of cellular functional aspects. This review discusses the main function of RACK1 protein in eukaryotes including animals and plants. Furthermore, we will show the recent study on RACK1 function in different organisms. © 2022 Production by the University of Garmian. This is an open access article under the LICENSE https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/


Feature selection is the process of selecting effective subsets of features that are effective in performing a given task. We propose an approach using a penalty function combined with a neural network to select a subset from a collection of features while maintaining the performance possible with the larger set. The penalty function is related to a mixed-norm function that has proven successful in pruning neural networks. The new function is shown to work on test cases with known redundancy and to be effective in feature selection for practical problems.


ZrO2 (3Y)-CaO-SiO2-TiO2 powders with excellent chemical homogeneity were synthesized by heating the alcohol-aqueous salt solutions. The powders have good dispersion, with particle size of 11~15nm and no hard agglomeration. The nanocomposite powders were hot-pressed in vacuum. The obtained zirconia-based multi-phase nanocomposites were characterized by using XRD and SEM, as well as relative density testing. The results demonstrated that, even though the sintering temperature was as low as 1250°C, a high relative density of 97.5% was achieved. The superplastic compressive tests of the as-sintered specimens demonstrate that this material behaves good deformability at 1350~1500°C, at which the maximum extrusion pressure is lower than 35MPa.


T. Dousay & R. Logan University of Georgia, USA. firstname.lastname@example.com Abstract Even after decades of authors creating their new models of instructional design, ADDIE remains one of the most commonly taught processes to instructional systems students. The ADDIE phases showcase the most important steps taken when designing and implementing instruction. Many scholars focus on the importance of employing a systematic approach to identify a performance gap and prescribe an instructional intervention. This approach includes the concept of evaluation and the process of formatively correcting issues along the way while also providing summative feedback to the stakeholders. Yet, as the field of instructional systems continues to grow, ADDIE is continually attacked with arguments against what is perceived as a simplistic view on design and development. However, a university in the southeastern United States currently encourages students to use ADDIE as they engage in an experiential learning activity. This case study examines how one team of students redesigned training for a community nature center from analysis of the nature center operations and volunteer trail guide performance to implementation of the newly developed training. Evaluations were conducted at the conclusion of each phase and the final report included summative evaluation tools for the project. Ultimately, the students were able to use the systematic approach prescribed in ADDIE to build an effective instructional product that successfully met with stakeholder's expectations.


Fluid phase separations of racemates are difficult because the subtle, short-ranged differences in intermolecular interactions of like and unlike pairs of chiral molecules are typically smaller than the thermal energy. A surface restricts the configurational space available to the pair of interacting molecules, thus changing the effective interactions between them. Because of this restriction, a surface can promote chiral separation of mixtures that are racemic in bulk. In this paper, we investigate chiral symmetry breaking induced by an achiral surface in a racemate. A parallel tempering Monte Carlo algorithm with tempering over the temperature domain is used to examine the interplay between molecular geometry and energetics in promoting chiral separations. The system is restricted to evolve in two dimensions. By controlling the balance between electrostatic and steric interactions, one can direct the surface assembly of the chiral molecules toward formation of small clusters of identical molecules. When molecular shape asymmetry is complemented by dipolar alignment, chiral micellar clusters of like molecules are assembled on the surface. We examine the case of small model molecules for which the two-dimensional restriction of the pair potential is sufficient to induce chiral segregation. An increase in molecular complexity can change the balance of intermolecular interactions to the point that heterochiral pairs are energetically more favored. In this case, we find conditions in which formation of homochiral micelles is still achieved, due to a combination of multibody and entropic effects. In such systems, an examination of the pair potential alone is insufficient to predict whether the multimolecular racemate will or will not segregate.


Backgrounds: Fighting cancer by taking advantage of a patient9s own immune system is showing considerable success in oncology research. Using therapeutic antibodies against tumor-associated antigens or modulating the host immune system, has been shown to prolong survival of patients with certain solid tumors or leukemia, particularly when combined with conventional treatments. Recent fast-track designations and regulatory approvals (including the first FDA approvals of anti-PD-1 agents in advanced melanoma) have signified the coming of age of cancer immunotherapy as a treatment paradigm, creating both potential patient benefits and commercial success for the pharmaceutical industry. A lack of experimental immunotherapy models is a major obstacle toward answering these questions and developing better treatments, and there is a high unmet need for new preclinical models to help drive forward immune therapy research and to recapitulate clinical treatments. Results: Crown Bioscience has created transient human immunity in mice (MiXeno) for testing human immunotherapeutics, particularly T cell engaged immunotherapies by mixing human peripheral blood mononucleated cells (PBMC) with xenograft models. Our data showed that anti-human PD-1 or PD-L1 antibodies demonstrated significant anti-tumor activities in several Mixeno models, including A375 melanoma model and KARPAS-299 lymphoma model. The emergence of the efficacy coincided with the T cell reconstitution in mouse blood. T cells are also recruited to the tumor microenvironment. The number of T cells in the tumor microenvironment varies significant and is largely dependent on tumor cells itself. Conclusion: The MiXeno model provides an alternative to the full stem cell reconstitution approach, and may allow T cell engaged immunotherapies (monotherapies or combinational therapies) to be evaluated in xenograft models. Citation Format: Juan Zhang, Meng Qiao, Qian Shi. Using MiXeno Mouse Models as Robust Tool to Evaluate T Cell Dependent Immunotherapies. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2015 Nov 5-9; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2015;14(12 Suppl 2):Abstract nr LB-B12.


The evaluation of existing structures for repair and strengthening results in the application of the most economical and effective repair techniques. The main focus is the existing buildings in seismic areas. The method of repair or strengthening depends on the damaged structural system, structural (life safety) issues, applicable seismic building code requirements, restrictions in available methods, and architectural and construction requirements. The consideration of new techniques, previous technical information on repair methods, experience of experts, and updated cost information are important in the evaluation. The most cost-effective schemes cannot be determined by choosing the most economical means to repair each component; an integrated approach is necessary. Also, recently the use of computers and networks to share the information are increasing. A knowledge-based information system has been developed for the integrated solutions. The level of damage is determined from the damage and structural information. In the evaluation, major damage conditions are grouped as ground damage, foundation damage and superstructure damage, and then these groups are divided into subgroups. Each repair method is represented by a specific format to determine the damage information index. The developed software is a self-modifying and learning system as a result of the data stored for common types of damaged buildings. The use of information systems results in rapid and effective initial cost estimation of repair methods.


T his issue of JOI is dedicated to our prestigious past Editor Dr A Norman Cranin who passed from this life at age 83 on February 20, 2011. His immediate family will miss Norman, but his ''Dental Implantology family'' will miss him also. Dr Cranin guided JOI for 38 years, and for this we can be grateful. Norman's list of accomplishments is multiple and includes his work as a worldrenowned oral surgeon, teacher, lecturer, author, and founder of The Dr Samuel Cranin Dental Center at The Brookdale Hospital Medical Center. Norman was a true pioneer and because of his ingenuity and tireless work in implant dentistry the profession was transformed from anecdotal to science based. He was a Fellow of the Pierre Fauchard Academy, which honors the great figures of the dental profession throughout the world. Additionally, he was a Fellow of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID) and was a Diplomate and founding member of the American Board of Oral Implantology/Implant Dentistry. These words only cover a small portion of his professional accomplishments. Norman was more than a list of accomplishments. He was a friend and mentor to so many of us involved in Implant Dentistry today. There are multiple stories of his ingenuity, and his ''let's get it done'' attitude. No implant case or project was ever too much for this Doctor. His credentials qualified him to tackle the most difficult cases with great vigor, knowledge, and skill. Many of his residents and students from Brookdale Hospital and the AAID MaxiCourse programs have gone on to help patients throughout the world. Because of this, his contributions to the profession will live on well past February 20, 2011. Norman's work and teaching were not only felt here in the US; he was a strong supporter of the Nigerian Osseointegration and Dental Implantology Society and lectured around the globe. Personally, Norman was not only one of my mentors in dental implant surgery, but my teacher and confidant for this journal. I will always remember the support, advice, and encouragement he provided during our transition from his Editorship to mine. Norman was a master of the English language and with each visit or phone conversation, he always taught me a new word and broadened my provincial vocabulary. Norman and his wife Marilyn were always a delight to be with. The conversations were enlightening and there was much joy and laughter. Norman and Marilyn worked hard, and now the Dental Implant profession salutes their life together. May Marilyn enjoy cherished memories and Norman, good rest. EDITORIAL


A numerical method of computing the electromagnetic response of two-dimensional earth models to an oscillating magnetic dipole is presented, The general ized electromagnetic variational integral is reduced to a sum of two-dimensional variational integrals by Fourier transformation, Discretization of each two-dimensional integral is carried out in terms of the secondary electric fields using the finite element method, Following the variational principle, each harmonic integral is reduced to a set of simultaneous equations. From each set of electric field solutions obtained by solving the simultaneous equations, the secondary magnetic fields are computed numerically. After inversely Fourier transforming the secondary electric and magnetic fields, the total fields are finally obtained by adding the analytically calculated primary fields, In order to formulate the source vector associated with each set of simultaneous equations, both the secondary electric fields along the external boundary and the primary electric fields at every node must be


To reduce the exploitation of mine resources and decrease the harm to the environment caused by urban electronic wastes, the recovery of critical metals in secondary resources is crucial. In this study, we have successfully developed an eco-friendly process to integrate the leaching and separation of cobalt (Co) from a spent lithium-ion battery (LIB) cathode using an amino acid-based aqueous biphasic system (ABS). We, for the first time, demonstrated a simple method for leaching a LIB cathode using only amino acids. In addition, we have investigated the leaching mechanism using the typical cathode active material lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2). Then, the Co was selectively extracted by a biphasic system (amino acid–PPG400–H2O). This novel process has an excellent prospect in the field of spent-battery recycling because of its eco-friendly and process-simplified advantages.


The article examines the exchanges between the Vatican Secretary of State and the Vatican's diplomatic post in Washington, DC, during the time of the presidential election of 1928 to show the different players and roles in the debate about the role of Catholics in American politics. These newly-available documents demonstrate and confirm Peter D'Agostino's call for the need for a more transnational approach to the history of American Catholicism. The relationship between "American exceptionalism" and American Catholic history needs to be investigated with greater consideration for Roman perspectives and Roman institutional influence on the American Catholic experience. This research highlights, in Robert Orsi's words, an "ambiguity and ambivalence" of American Catholic identity that has methodological consequences for historians of Catholicism as it takes a global turn.


A numerical implementation and generalized conservation properties of a formulation for calculating wave propagation through stacked gratings comprising metallic and dielectric cylinders are presented. The basic formulation of the method was given in a companion paper [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A. 17, 2165 (2000)]. Here, details of the numerical implementation of the method are discussed and are illustrated for the ensemble average of a strongly scattering structure with refractive index and radius disorder. Also presented are a comprehensive treatment of energy conservation and generalized phase relations, as well as reciprocity.


The present study investigated the dynamic of the attention focus during observation of different categories of complex scenes and simultaneous consideration of individuals' memory and motivational state. We repeatedly presented four types of complex visual scenes in a pseudo-randomized order and recorded eye movements. Subjects were divided into groups according to their motivational disposition in terms of action orientation and individual rating of scene interest. Statistical analysis of eye-tracking data revealed that the attention focus successively became locally expressed by increasing fixation duration; decreasing saccade length, saccade frequency, and single subject's fixation distribution over images; and increasing inter-subject variance of fixation distributions. The validity of these results was supported by verbal reports. This general tendency was weaker for the group of subjects who rated the image set as interesting as compared to the other group. Additionally, effects were partly mediated by subjects' motivational disposition. Finally, we found a generally strong impact of image type on eye movement parameters. We conclude that motivational tendencies linked to personality as well as individual preferences significantly affected viewing behaviour. Hence, it is important and fruitful to consider inter-individual differences on the level of motivation and personality traits within investigations of attention processes. We demonstrate that future studies on memory's impact on overt attention have to deal appropriately with several aspects that had been out of the research focus until now.


The pandemic of coronavirus infection COVID-19 and the intro-duction of restrictive measures are the events that have led to dramatic changes in the life of society and are the cause of global stress and colos-sal language productivity. The uniqueness of the language situation that has developed during the pandemic is determined by the speed of language changes, that usually result from a long historical process, while the new language units of the pandemic period have undergone these transforma-tions within one year (derivational productivity, the formation of polysemy, homonymy, etc.). The material of the language of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates variability common among complex lexemes, the reason for which may be the lack of literacy of a writer (in particular, the hyphenated spelling of complex words with a connecting –o-) or the initial possibility of the system to allow the existence of several variants. Compound words with corona-and covid-are of particular interest from the point of view of the normative aspect, demonstrating numerous material on spelling, graphic and derivational variability. Complex derivatives with the analytical adjective of the coronavirus era corona-, demonstrate the inconsistency of the spelling of about 50 % of the units with the existing spelling norm, as well as in some cases the dominance of a non-normative variant in the usus or an equal number of uses of non-normative and normative variants. How-ever, the doublet group of derivatives with the ковид-(covid-) component, follows the existing norm. The model of addition with the connecting-o-along with functioning comparable names with the analytical adjective corona …, written together and/or with a hyphen, is present in 30 % of cases, some of which are correspond to the usus. © 2021, Russian Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.


To reduce the dependence on labeled data, there have been increasing research efforts on learning visual classifiers by exploiting web images. One issue that limits their performance is the problem of polysemy. To solve this problem, in this work, we present a novel framework that solves the problem of polysemy by allowing sense-specific diversity in search results. Specifically, we first discover a list of possible semantic senses to retrieve sense-specific images. Then we merge visual similar semantic senses and prune noises by using the retrieved images. Finally, we train a visual classifier for each selected semantic sense and use the learned sense-specific classifiers to distinguish multiple visual senses. Extensive experiments on classifying images into sense-specific categories and re-ranking search results demonstrate the superiority of our proposed approach.


Significant technological advances in sensing and communication promote the use of large sensor networks to monitor structural systems, identify damages, and quantify damage levels. Prognostics and health management (PHM) technique has been developed and applied for a variety of safety-critical engineering structures, given the critical needs of the structure health state awareness. The PHM performance highly relies on real-time sensory signals which convey the structural health relevant information. Designing an optimal structural sensor network (SN) with high detectability is thus of great importance to the PHM performance. This paper proposes a generic SN design framework using a detectability measure while accounting for uncertainties in material properties and geometric tolerances. Detectability is defined to quantify the performance of a given SN. Then, detectability analysis will be developed based on structural simulations and health state classification. Finally, the generic SN design framework can be formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) using the detectability measure and genetic algorithms (GAs) will be employed to solve the SN design optimization problem. A power transformer study will be used to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed generic SN design methodology.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


With the advance of wireless communication technology, it is quite common for people to view maps or get related services from the handheld devices, such as mobile phones and PDAs. Range queries, as one of the most commonly used tools, are often posed by the users to retrieve needful information from a spatial database. However, due to the limits of communication bandwidth and hardware power of handheld devices, displaying all the results of a range query on a handheld device is neither communication-efficient nor informative to the users. This is simply because that there are often too many results returned from a range query. In view of this problem, we present a novel idea that a concise representation of a specified size for the range query results, while incurring minimal information loss, shall be computed and returned to the user. Such a concise range query not only reduces communication costs, but also offers better usability to the users, providing an opportunity for interactive exploration. The usefulness of the concise range queries is confirmed by comparing it with other possible alternatives, such as sampling and clustering. Unfortunately, we prove that finding the optimal representation with minimum information loss is an NP-hard problem. Therefore, we propose several effective and nontrivial algorithms to find a good approximate result. Extensive experiments on real-world data have demonstrated the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed techniques.


Substantial statistical research has recently been devoted to the analysis of large-scale microarray experiments which provide a measure of the simultaneous expression of thousands of genes in a particular condition. A typical goal is the comparison of gene expression between two conditions (eg. diseased vs. non-diseased) to detect genes which show differential expression. Classical hypothesis testing procedures have been applied to this problem and more recent work has employed sophisticated models that allow for the sharing of information across genes. However, many recent gene expression studies have an experimental design with several conditions that requires an even more involved hypothesis testing approach. In this paper, we use a hierarchical Bayesian model to address the situation where there are many hypotheses that must be simultaneously tested for each gene. In addition to having many hypotheses within each gene, our analysis also addresses the more typical multiple comparison issue of testing many genes simultaneously. We illustrate our approach with an appli-


Three adult rabbits given 1 mg. prednisolone intramuscularly four times weekly for twelve weeks developed glycosuria and albuminuria, and became weak and flaccid. Light and electron microscopy reveals a variety of changes in the kidneys of the treated rabbits. By light microscopy, the glomerular tufts show congestion, capillary aneurysms, eosinophilic foci and cellular loss; Bowman's space may contain blood and other elements; the cells lining Bowman's capsule are sometimes degenerated or necrotic; and the tubules may exhibit fatty infiltration, intracytoplasmic hyaline droplets, an increase of acidophile cells in the collecting segments, cellular necrobiosis and necrosis and, like Bowman's space, a content of blood and other substances. By electron microscopy, the glomerular tufts show two types of abnormal foci; one apparently results from proteinous occlusion of one or more degenerated capillaries such as may be normal in size and shape or dilated and locally collapsed, and the other consists in an axially located intermingling of basement membrane-like material and unusually osmiophilic endothelial cytoplasm; apart from such foci the podocytes may exhibit hyaline droplets, vacuolation, intense osmiophilia or loss of substance, while the endothelial cells are sometimes abnormally electron dense and vacuolated; the cells lining Bowman's capsule may also be unusually osmiophilic and deposits of plasma-like material are occasionally noted in Bowman's space; the tubular changes include intracytoplasmic hyaline droplets, luminal debris and dilatation of the collecting tubules, but these are overshadowed by necrosis of the tubular cells, particularly in the collecting series. The experimental renal findings are considered in relation to human diabetic glomerulopathy.


Forecasting geomagnetic indices represents a key point to develop warning systems for the mitigation of possible effects of severe geomagnetic storms on critical ground infrastructures. Here we focus on SYM‐H index, a proxy of the axially symmetric magnetic field disturbance at low and middle latitudes on the Earth's surface. To forecast SYM‐H, we built two artificial neural network (ANN) models and trained both of them on two different sets of input parameters including interplanetary magnetic field components and magnitude and differing for the presence or not of previous SYM‐H values. These ANN models differ in architecture being based on two conceptually different neural networks: the long short‐term memory (LSTM) and the convolutional neural network (CNN). Both networks are trained, validated, and tested on a total of 42 geomagnetic storms among the most intense that occurred between 1998 and 2018. Performance comparison of the two ANN models shows that (1) both are able to well forecast SYM‐H index 1 h in advance, with an accuracy of more than 95% in terms of the coefficient of determination R2; (2) the model based on LSTM is slightly more accurate than that based on CNN when including SYM‐H index at previous steps among the inputs; and (3) the model based on CNN has interesting potentialities being more accurate than that based on LSTM when not including SYM‐H index among the inputs. Predictions made including SYM‐H index among the inputs provide a root mean squared error on average 42% lower than that of predictions made without SYM‐H.


This report is based on the 2014 Canadian Defence, Aerospace and Commercial and Civil Marine Sectors Survey, conducted by Statistics Canada in collaboration with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. It presents the latest figures and facts for Canada's maritime sector. The economic impact relating to the entire sector is presented, followed by an analysis of sale's types according to the commercial, civil and defence sectors. Attention is also directed at the industry's ecosystem according to size, region, employment type, research and development, as well as an overview of supply and exports for the sector.


ABSTRACT Tracing the origin of the national security argument for protection of domestic industries to Adam Smith, Alexander Hamilton, and Friedrich List, we study its post-GATT applications with reference to Article XXI of the WTO and highlight some recent abuses. We compare the use of tariff, production/input subsidy, and government procurement as alternative instruments of protection from the perspective of economic efficiency and study the disapproval of inward FDI to gain insights into the underlying national security concerns. The case studies of a) the US tariffs on aluminum and steel, b) German disapproval of the acquisition of a technology firm Leifeld Metal Spinning by a Chinese firm, and c) US' all out global effort to cripple China's telecom equipment giant Huawei are presented for illustration.


It is widely accepted that researchers have an obligation to inform survey participants of research results. However, there is little evidence on the effectiveness of various dissemination strategies. The emerging field of knowledge transfer and exchange (KTE) may offer insight given its focus on techniques to enhance the effectiveness of communicating evidence-based information. To date, KTE has focused primarily on information exchange between researchers and policy-makers as opposed to study participants; however, there are principles that may be relevant in this new context. This gap in the literature becomes even more salient in the context of public health research where research results can reveal particular misunderstandings or shortcomings in knowledge that threaten to severely compromise participants' health. The objective of this article is to describe how KTE principles were used to inform dissemination of results of a self-administered sexual health survey to adolescent study participants in a resource-deprived, peri-urban area of South Africa. Strategies for enhancing two-way information exchange included constructing interactive dissemination sessions led by young, isiZulu fieldworkers. We also employed techniques to create a safe space for dialogue, encouraged the shared ownership of results and crafted targeted messages. Particularly noteworthy was the benefit accrued by the research team through this process of exchange, including novel explanations for study findings and new ideas for future research.


Displacement ductility is one of the parameters used to measure the seismic performance of a structure. This study experimentally determines the increase in displacement ductility of the spun pile with 400 mm of outer diameter and 100 mm of wall thickness using concrete infill cast inside the hollow of the pile. The spun pile and concrete infill's concrete compressive strength was 54.4 MPa and 33.0 MPa, respectively. Loading was conducted with constant axial and reversed lateral flexural loads. A total of six samples were tested with different axial loads of 392 kN (0.08fc'Ag) for S-DB-1, S-DB-2, S-DB-5, and 784 kN (0.16fc'Ag) for S-DB-3, S-DB-4, S-DB-6 with the reverse flexure load applied in the middle span of the pile. The results showed spun piles with concrete infill could resist the flexural load combined with axial loads until the displacement ductility 5.8 for P 0 = 0.08fc'Ag, and 3.7 for P0 = 0.16fc'Ag, respectively. Compared with the ordinary spun piles, which had a hollow section, the presence of concrete infill due to the presence of the concrete infill the displacement ductility increased by 18% when loaded with 0.08f'cAg and 42% at 0.16f'cAg of axial loads. In conclusion, according to seismic codes, displacement ductility evaluation showed that tested piles for plastic concept design applications are appropriate for moderate seismic risks category state under axial loads of 0.08fc'Ag. The increasing of the axial load becomes 0.16fc'Ag decreasing the displacement ductility to become less than 4, applicable for low seismic risks category state. Keywords— spun pile; displacement ductility; concrete infill.


Background Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common malignancy in South-East Asia. NPC is characterized by distant metastasis and poor prognosis. The pathophysiological mechanism of nasopharyngeal carcinoma is unknown. This study aimed to identify the crucial miRNAs in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and their target genes, and to discover the potential mechanism of nasopharyngeal carcinoma development. Material/Methods Microarray expression profiling of miRNA and mRNA from the Gene Expression Omnibus database was downloaded, and we performed a significance analysis of differential expression. An interaction network of miRNAs and target genes was constructed. The underlying function of differentially expressed genes was predicted through Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses. To validate the microarray analysis data, significantly different expression levels of miRNAs and target genes were validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results We identified 27 differentially expressed miRNAs and 982 differentially expressed mRNAs between NPC and normal control tissues. 12 miRNAs and 547 mRNAs were up-regulated and 15 miRNAs and 435 mRNAs were down-regulated in NPC samples. We found a total of 1185 negative correlation pairs between miRNA and mRNA. Differentially expressed target genes were significantly enriched in pathways in cancer, cell cycle, and cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction signaling pathways. Significantly differentially expressed miRNAs and genes, such as hsa-miR-205, hsa-miR-18b, hsa-miR-632, hsa-miR-130a, hsa-miR-34b, PIGR, SMPD3, CD22, DTX4, and CDC6, may play essential roles in the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Conclusions hsa-miR-205, hsa-miR-18b, hsa-miR-632, hsa-miR-130a, and hsa-miR-34b may be related to the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma by regulating the genes involved in pathways in cancer and cell cycle signaling pathways.


Maize and soybeans are agricultural materials that serve as food to both man and livestock and also serve as by-product used in manufacturing industries. The knowledge of some physical and mechanical properties of these seeds is important tool for designing agricultural machines and equipment for planting, harvesting, processing, packaging and storage. Some of the properties determined include size, geometric mean diameter, surface area, bulk volume, bulk density, true density, porosity, sphericity, angle of repose, coefficient of friction, rupture force and rupture energy. The mean values measured and recorded for the length, width, thickness, geometric mean diameter, surface area, bulk volume, bulk density, true density, porosity and sphericity of maize and soybean were 1.043 cm, 0.883 cm, 0.405 cm, 0.716 cm, 1.621cm 2 , 29.200 ml, 1.169 g/ml, 1.369 g/ml, 14.599% and 0.693; 0.737 cm, 0.627 cm, 0.468 cm, 0.600 cm, 1.135 cm 2 , 16.6 ml, 1.071 g/ml, 1.0865 g/ml, 1.397% and 0.814 respectively. The mean angle of repose and coefficient of friction over stainless steel, galvanized steel, mild steel and plywood for maize and soybean were 38.6° and 0.805, 36.7° and 0.746, 38.28° and 0.794 and 34.75° and 0.702; 53.91° and 1.407, 51.67° and 1.293, 48.33° and 1.1425 and 47.67° and 1.110 respectively. The rupture forces on the major, intermediate and minor axis for maize and soybean were measured and recorded to be 175.296 N,156.550 N and 328.488 N; 52.562 N, 40.504N and 0 N respectively. The properties determined relevant to the design of the components of a planter such as the hopper, the seed plate and the delivery tube. It also helps in the selection of materials to use and to know the amount of force a material can withstand before rupture occurs.


Title of thesis: INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTS OF AEOLIAN SCALING PARAMETERS ON SEDIMENT MOBILIZATION BELOW A HOVERING ROTOR Ajay Baharani, Master of Science, 2011 Thesis directed by: Professor J. Gordon Leishman Department of Aerospace Engineering Flow visualization and particle image velocimetry (PIV) experiments were conducted on a small-scale rotor hovering over a ground plane covered with a mobile sediment bed to help understand the effects of certain selected scaling parameters on the processes of sediment mobilization, entrainment, and uplift as induced by the rotor. Flow visualization using high-speed videography was used to study the rotor flow structures, their evolution in the rotor wake, and their interaction with the ground plane. Timeresolved PIV measurements of the rotor wake flow at the sediment bed quantified the flow velocities where most of the sediment mobilization was observed to occur. Dualphase PIV experiments were conducted using ten different sediment samples of known characteristics to vary the values of five of the similarity parameters: 1. Particle diameterto-rotor radius ratio, 2. Particle-to-fluid density ratio, 3. Ratio of characteristic flow (or wind) speed to particle terminal speed, 4. Densimetric Froude number, and 5. Threshold friction velocity ratio. The particle-to-fluid density ratio was shown to have the greatest effect on the resulting two-phase flow, followed by the threshold friction velocity ratio. The flow was also sensitive to changes in the particle diameter-to-rotor radius ratio. Changes in the densimetric Froude number and ratio of the characteristic flow speed to particle terminal speed also showed good correlations to observations of the quantity of uplifted particles. The effects of the passage of the tip vortex near the bed was shown to increase the shear stresses on the bed, which was observed to be closely correlated to an increase in the quantity of entrained sediment particles if the threshold conditions for particle mobility was exceeded. The observations and results were used to make recommendations regarding scaling on dual-phase experiments to better simulate the problem of rotorcraft brownout in the laboratory environment. EFFECTS OF AEOLIAN SCALING PARAMETERS ON SEDIMENT MOBILIZATION BELOW A HOVERING ROTOR


In distribution power generation, hybrid systems play an important role, mainly due its flexibility and reliability. This paper deals with the development of a control strategy for hybrid hydro-PV generation system employing a three-phase three-legs Split-Source Inverter (SSI) like a distribution synchronous static compensator (DSTATCOM). The SSI has the ability to feed ac loads with a boost characteristic. In addition, the proposed control strategy ensures regulation for balanced output ac voltages and load disturbance compensation of self excited induction generator (SEIG) based systems, providing the required active and reactive power. The modeling of the system and the design of the resonant controller are presented in detail. In addition, simulation results are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed control strategy.


The aim of this study was to investigate the physicochemical characteristics of commercial Mukeunji product along with its sensory properties. Six different types of commercial Mukeunji products were purchased through an on-line market, and each product had a different fermentation period. General commercial Baechu Kimchi was compared with commercial Mukeunji products in order to standardize quality properties of Mukeunji. As a result, commercial Mukeunji showed a lower pH value (pH 3.96, mean value) than commercial Baechu Kimchi (pH 5.92), whereas commercial Mukeunji samples showed higher acidity and salinity. Color values (L, a, and b) of commercial Mukeunji decreased as the storage period increased. Hardness and thickness of commercial Mukeunji showed a lower range compared to Baechu Kimchi. The reducing sugar content decreased as the storage period of commercial Mukeunji increased. Acetic, lactic, and succinic acids were detected in commercial Mukeunji samples, whereas citric acid and malic acid were additionally detected in Baechu Kimchi. Commercial Mukeunji samples showed lower contents of acetic and succinic acid and higher content of lactic acid than Baechu Kimchi. Commercial Mukeunji samples showed a significant difference in all descriptive sensory attributes except for bitterness. Overall intensity, sourness, moldy odor, redness, sour smell, saltiness, and carbonated taste increased as the storage period increased, whereas cabbage flavor, crispiness, sweetness, firmness, and savory taste decreased as the storage period increased.


Amiodarone has proved to be a valuable drug in atrial fibrillation associated with the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. When it was administered to a patient with this syndrome in atrial fibrillation, who had previously suffered an inferior myocardial infarction, the ventricular rate accelerated from 170 to 230 beats/minute.This unusual case emphasises the need for full electrophysiological assessment of patients with the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome for whom amiodarone treatment is being considered.


Economist Dr Chris Wilkins leads Massey University's illegal drug research team. He recently wrote a New Zealand Medical Journal editorial promoting the idea of using registered clubs to regulate recreational cannabis use. In this interview with Wallace Chapman on Radio New Zealand's Sunday Morning he discusses the available empirical evidence and the advantages and disadvantages of a range of policy options for the use of marijuana and other drugs in New Zealand. Aspects covered include drug quality, the economics of illegal markets and their regulation, the politics involved, NZ's history with synthetic cannabis, taxation and medical and health policy. He sees twelve different policy regimes availabe and does not consider this is a simple binary choice between legaliisation or decriminalisation and the current legal regime. The drug club proposal is also explained.


The court backlog in some European countries has inspired the introduction of compulsory mediation schemes to deal with various commercial claims. The article reviews the developing jurisprudence from various courts throughout Europe, to assess the seemingly relentless public policy move towards compulsory mediation and the implications that this has for commercial parties in dispute, lawyers involved in the process and the administration of justice in Europe. The potential that such an approach could amount to a violation of the rights guaranteed by Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights, as enshrined within the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003, and Article 40.3 of the Irish Constitution is analysed. The article ultimately discusses the optimal approach for the courts and the legislature to follow to strike the appropriate balance between strong encouragement and coercive compulsion that would avoid offending constitutional and Convention rights and foster a mediation culture.


Abstract Glyphosate-resistance evolution in weeds is evident globally, especially in areas where transgenic glyphosate-resistant crops dominate. Resistance to glyphosate is currently known in 16 weed species, including rigid ryegrass in Australia. Following the first report of glyphosate resistance in 1998, there are now 78 documented glyphosate-resistant populations of rigid ryegrass in grain-growing regions of southern Australia. In some regions where glyphosate-resistance evolution has already occurred in rigid ryegrass, transgenic glyphosate-resistant canola was introduced in 2008, further highlighting the need to monitor glyphosate-resistance evolution in weeds. A rigid ryegrass population (WALR70) was collected in 2005 from a crop field in Esperance, Western Australia, after it had survived applications of glyphosate. Dose–response experiments confirmed resistance in the population, with the glyphosate rate resulting in 50% mortality (LD50) for WALR70 being 11 times greater than that for a susceptible biotype. The WALR70 population also had low levels of resistance to some acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase)- and acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicides (diclofop, fluazifop, clodinafop, tralkoxydim, chlorsulfuron, and imazethapyr), but was susceptible to other herbicide modes of action, such as atrazine, trifluralin, and paraquat. Two other rigid ryegrass populations assessed in this study were also confirmed to be resistant to glyphosate. The increasing number of glyphosate-resistant rigid ryegrass populations in Australia is of concern to growers because of the importance of glyphosate in intensive cropping systems and the introduction of glyphosate-resistant canola to this region. Nomenclature: Glyphosate; rigid ryegrass, Lolium rigidum Gaudin


Platform-based design (PBD) has been introduced to cope with increasing costs in developing complex embedded systems such as multimedia applications. In this paper, we present a performance-aware model and methodology that provides a comprehensive software and hardware modelling and simulation framework at system-platform level. We apply the methodology for synthesizing and analyzing the performance of several concurrent implementations of a MPEG-4 video encoder on embedded multiprocessor hardware architectures. The analysis allows choosing an implementation that satisfies both the encoding requirements (frame rate) and the environment constraints (available bandwidth).


The author uses intuition derived from several of his research papers to make three points. First, in the absence of a common law balancing test, application of uniform patentability criteria favors some industries over others. Policymakers must decide the optimal tradeoff across industries. Second, if patent rights are not closely related to the underlying inventions, more patenting may reduce R&D in industries that are both R&D and patent intensive. Third, for reasons largely unrelated to intellectual property, the U.S. private innovation system has become far more decentralized than it was a generation ago. It is reasonable to inquire whether a patent system that worked well in an era of more centralized innovation functions as well for the more decentralized environment of today.